


Winning at Christmas

by thousand_miles



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:00:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21965344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thousand_miles/pseuds/thousand_miles
Summary: Noah asks Rafael to join him for his annual ice skating trip with his school. It’s the first time he will join Olivia and Noah at school since he started dating Olivia. He doesn’t want to disappoint either of them. There’s a little bit of teasing, some insecurities and an ice hockey game
Relationships: Rafael Barba & Olivia Benson, Rafael Barba/Olivia Benson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59





	Winning at Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Written for thebarsondaily Secret Santa exchange 2019. For fearlessbenson who is a sucker for Barson Family Fluff. I hope this gives you fluff.

It had only been a few months ago that he’d finally gathered up all his courage and had asked Olivia if she wanted to go out on a date with him. When she’d stared at him instead of answering immediately, he had wanted to take back his words or for the ground underneath him to open and swallow him. Neither was possible and so he told her to forget his question. That’s when she’d grabbed his wrist and smiled that beautiful smile of hers at him. The one that lit up her entire face and made him weak in the knees. And when she’d said yes that she would love to go out on a date with him he’d wondered the entire day if that had indeed happened or if he was having a wonderful dream. It turned out it wasn’t a dream and the date was the first of many. They were still taking things slow. Neither wanted to rush Noah and they both liked what they were at the moment. They were about to spend their first Christmas together and he was excited. He’d always loved Christmas but hadn’t really celebrated these last few years. This year though he would spend the holidays with Olivia and Noah. Noah’s enthusiasm over Santa was infectious and he was going to do all he could to make sure Noah had a wonderful Christmas.

It had been a week ago at Olivia’s apartment when both Bensons had taken him by surprise. Noah had been on the floor, playing with his legos, building something because he really wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be and he had joined the boy on the floor. He was building his own creation. Olivia was in the kitchen getting them both a cup of coffee. 

“Uncle Rafa?” Noah looked up at the man.

Rafael turned his attention from the legos to Noah. 

“Will you come ice skating with us?”

“Ice skating?” He looked up to Olivia who joined them in the living room before turning his attention back to Noah.

“We’re going with school. All the moms and dads come and we all skate together. There’s Christmas tree and hot chocolate and I get to stay up late.” 

There was so much of what Noah said that left him speechless. It was the fact that the little boy wanted him to be there, but most of all it was the word dads. It all warmed his heart and even got him a bit emotional. He glanced at Olivia who was watching him carefully. 

Noah, oblivious to it all, continued. “There’s also a ice hockey game with all the dads. Momma was on the team last year cause moms can join too, but now you can be on my team Uncle Rafa. You will, right? You’ll be on my team?” By now Noah had abandoned his legos and crawled closer to Rafael. “You can skate, right uncle Rafa? I bet you’re really good. Momma’s really good, but we still lost.”

Olivia saw Rafael was a bit overwhelmed by all Noah was saying. She hadn’t expected Noah to invite Rafael so easily. She was glad he was so enthusiastic about it. Maybe it was all a bit too much too soon for Rafael? There was no doubt in her mind and heart about their relationship. This was it for both of them. They had talked about it and decided to take things slow and with regards to his relationship with Noah, it was decided that Noah would set the pace. Noah and Rafael got along great and she loved that he sought out Rafael to help with homework, to get him ready for bed, but loved it even more when he sought him out for comfort. Now though, Noah was moving faster than either of them had expected and maybe even were ready for. That wasn’t entirely true. She was ready for them to be a family. She wanted Rafael to be Noah’s father, wanted Noah to call him dad. She wanted to move in together and come home to them both. She hadn’t shared that with Rafael yet. She thought he would need more time to adjust to this new life. Count on her son to move things ahead. 

“Will you come with us? Please uncle Rafa?”

As if he could say no to Noah when he pleaded like that and looked at him with those big eyes. He really couldn’t. “I’d love to.” A second later he had Noah wrapped around his neck thanking him for coming with them. He looked at Olivia, wanting to be sure she was okay with it and she was. 

That’s was what had gotten him here. Rafael stood still and took it all in from a distance and tried to calm his nerves. Logically he knew there was no reason for his nervousness, but it seemed like all sense of logic had left him. He searched for Noah and Olivia but couldn’t find them. It was a bustle of activities. Parents and children. There were two ice skating rinks. One had two goals and clearly was for a game of ice hockey. On the other rink there were lots of people skating. There was a tent with several benches and where you could rent skates. There was another tent with a hot beverage stall and benches and it had a Christmas tree. He walked around a bit, feeling lost among the crowd. He didn’t know any of these people and he just really wanted to find Olivia and Noah. He was just about to call them, when a little voice called out his name. He searched the crowd and finally saw Olivia who waved at him. Olivia and Noah were bundled into thick coats, scarfs wrapped around their necks, gloves and hats. Well Olivia was wearing a red beanie, Noah wore a knitted beanie with ear flaps and pom poms. Both looked adorable. He did regret not wearing a hat himself. As soon as he was in reach, Noah hugged his waist. 

“Are you ready uncle Rafa?” He asked excitedly. 

He took a deep breath. He didn’t want Noah to see his nerves. “I am.” 

Noah cheered before he ran back to his friends, leaving Olivia and Rafael alone. “Hi.” Olivia said, leaning closer. She hadn’t seen him the entire day and was glad to have him back. She held his eyes for a moment. She could see he was nervous.

“Hi.” He wanted to wrap her in his arms and kiss her but didn’t know if she wanted him to. This was the first time they were out and about with people from Noah’s school. They only knew Olivia and they didn’t know him. He also didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. 

She smiled at his hesitance. “Come here.” She whispered. She grabbed him by the collar of his coat and pulled him in till she could finally kiss him. She hummed her delight. No matter how many times she’d already kissed him, whether it was a deep, passionate kiss or a mere brush of lips as it was now, she always felt the sparks between them and she was certain that would never change. 

A bit reluctantly he ended the kiss. He kept her close though. He cupped her jaw and caressed her cheek with his thumb. He held her eyes and leaned closer till he could lean his forehead against hers. 

“Thank you for joining us.” Her voice was soft. 

“Thank you for inviting me.” He said in an equally soft voice.

“Don’t be nervous.” She knew she needed to address what she’d seen in his eyes. “He’s delighted to have you here.”

“I’m not a real good ice skater.” He glanced downward, feeling a bit ashamed. “I don’t want to embarrass him.”

She kissed his cheek. “You won’t. All he wants is for you to be here with him. He wants to show you off to his friends. He wants to skate with you. That’s all that matters to him.”

“And you?” He kinda hated how insecure he sounded.

Now it was Olivia who cupped his cheeks. “All I ever wanted was for you to be with us. You here with us, that’s all I am ever going to need.” 

He whispered his thanks before pulling her into his arms and against his chest. “I love you, Liv.” 

“I love you too, my sweet man.” She wanted to stay in his arms longer, but this wasn’t the time nor the place. “Let’s go find our boy and get our skates.”

His smile was wide and big, delighted when she’d said our boy. It warmed his heart. He leaned in and kissed her cheek once more. Just because he could and he wanted to. “I should have brought a hat.” He said after a moment.

Olivia dug in her bag. She’d counted on him forgetting to bring a hat. “We brought you one.” She rummaged some more and finally found it. She held it out to him. She’d bought him a beanie too. A green one because it matched his eyes and she loved his eyes. 

“I’m not sure that’s my style.” He murmured when he saw the beanie. 

“Trust me, it is.” She pulled it over his head and stepped back to admire him. “You look great.”

“Uncle Rafa.” Noah ran back up to them. “Momma gave you your hat. Can we go get our skates now and go skating?”

“Yes, let’s go.” He took Noah’s hand in his and held his other hand out to Olivia.

Olivia was leaning against the ice rink boarding. Noah and Rafael were on the ice while she took a break. She wanted a warm drink and her two men had declined. Noah wanted to be prepared for the game which would start soon and Rafael needed some more practice. Rafael wasn’t as bad as an ice skater as he’d said. She was certain he would be able to hold his own in the game. She loved how Noah was completely enthralled by his uncle Rafa. He tried to copy his moves, followed him everywhere and held his hand as often as he could. 

“Olivia, great to see you.” 

Olivia turned around and watched Jessica approach her. Jessica was Sammy’s mother, one of Noah’s friends. She liked Jessica. Sammy and Noah got along great and when there was time they would meet up in the park. Though it had been a while since they’d actually had a play date. She’d been too busy with work, and well Rafael. 

“Ready for the game?” Jessica gave Olivia a brief hug. She stood next to Olivia and leaned against the boarding.

“Not this year.”

“You’re not? You always join Noah. Noah’s not joining either?”

“No, he is.”

“Alone?”

“No.” She pointed at Noah and Rafael. “He’ll be joined by Rafael.”

“Rafael?” Jessica paused. “Is that Uncle Rafa?” She’d heard Noah talk about his uncle Rafa. She’d never met the man before. She watched him tie his ice skating laces and then take Noah’s hand in his and continue skating. 

“He is.” Olivia smiled.

Jessica spotted the smile and when she saw the smile grow even wider when Noah and his uncle Rafa waved at them. She guessed this uncle Rafa wasn’t Noah’s uncle at all. She decided to have some fun and tease her friend a bit for not mentioning she was in a relationship with quite a handsome man. “He’s very attractive.” She paused briefly. “Is he single?” 

Olivia tensed. Jessica was happily married or at least as far as she knew. And no Rafael wasn’t single. “You’re married.”

“Mmm... I am. He could make me forget about John though.” 

“Jessica.” Olivia reprimanded.

“Look at him. Despite all those thick layers of clothing you can see his has a fine physique. He must work out a lot. What does he do?”

“He’s a lawyer.”

“I bet he looks great in suits.” 

“He does.” Olivia whispered. “He really does.”

Jessica smiled at the admission. She was getting somewhere. Time for a final push. “I should go and introduce myself. My sister is recently single again. Maybe I can introduce them.” She said as innocently as possible. She kept her eyes on Olivia and saw her shoulders tense.When she stepped forward Olivia’s hand grabbed her wrist.

“He’s not single.” 

She turned with a smile towards her friend. “Easy there. I’m not gonna try to steal your man.” 

“He’s not..”

“Ooh stop that. He is clearly your man.” She bumped her shoulder against Olivia’s. “How long have you two been dating?”

“A couple of months.” Olivia admitted. 

“He and Noah seem to get along.”

“They adore each other.”

“And you adore him.”

“I do.”

“I’m happy for you, Olivia.” She saw Noah and Rafael approaching them. “I’ll leave you three alone.” She grinned when Olivia gave an absent nod because she was already completely focused on the two coming her way.

Noah who couldn’t really break yet skated right against the boarding and laughed. Rafael, who was able to break, skirted to a stop close to the boarding. Noah’s cheeks were rosy form the cold, just like Rafael’s. Both smiled widely at her.

“Uncle Rafa’s really good, momma.”

“I saw.”

“But you’re still the best.” Noah grinned. 

“Hey.” Rafael feigned protest which made Noah giggle. “You’re right. Your mom is the best.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You’re cold.” He stated. “I thought you went to grab some hot chocolate.”

“I got distracted.” 

“Really?” His eyes sparkled. 

He was baiting her and she knew it. “Yeah.” She nodded towards the other ice rink. “Some of the dads were warming up already. Some of them are quite..,” She lingered on purpose. “..impressive.” 

He squinted his eyes at her. “I can be impressive.” He straightened his back.

“I don’t know.” She teased some more. “Some of them were really, I mean really good. The way they moved and how strong they seemed.”

He wanted to reply but Noah was tugging on his arm. “Is it time to start, Uncle Rafa?” He looked over to the other ice rink. It seemed like it was time. “Yes, it is. Let’s go.” Noah cheered and grabbed his hand. 

He had never been a big fan of sports. He had never been really good at it. At school he was usually one of the kids picked last for teams. Unless it was for the baseball team because he was a good runner. Reason for that was that he always had to out run the bullies who chased him through the neighborhood. Because he’d never been good at sports he had never been competitive during games. When it came to academics he’d always been ambitious, always needed to proof himself and always wanted to be the best. But that never was the case when it came to sports. That’s why the competitiveness he felt now took him by surprise. The ice hockey game was going well. At the moment the game was a draw and there wouldn’t be too long to play anymore. The thing was, that because it was near the end of the game, it was only the dads that were playing the game now. The kids were looking on from the side of the ice rink. He could clearly hear Noah cheering him on and whenever he glanced over at Olivia he saw her smiling brightly at him and cheering him on just as loudly as her son. And that was why he needed to prove himself, to her, to Noah and to the men she’d said that were impressive. Logically he knew she had only been teasing him and he really had nothing to prove, but logic wasn’t what was driving him at the moment. It was much more primal than that and he couldn’t believe he was actually susceptible to that. 

The ice skating itself was going well. The more time he spent skating the more comfortable he felt. Now with the kids no longer joining them the game had gotten a bit rougher and there was more bodily contact. He guessed he would have some bruises tomorrow. After a failed shot from the opposite team, Rafael’s team had the puck once more. The puck got passed to him and he skated towards the goal. From the corner of his eye he saw someone from his team free but he saw a member from the opposite team immediately skating towards him. This gave him the opportunity to move forward. Seeing that he had the chance for a good shot, he swung his hockey stick backward and just as he hit the puck, he got body checked and flew to the ice. He fell down with a rather loud thud and he groaned loudly as he hit the ice and slid on the ice before coming to stop. He wasn’t really sure if he’d hit the puck or not but there was cheering so maybe he had. He was trying to get back up on his feet when Noah crashed into him and they landed back on the ice again with Noah on Rafael’s chest. 

“We won!” He cheered, wrapping his arms around his neck. 

He hugged Noah close against him and was thrilled that they had won. To see Noah smile at him like that, it was the best thing in the world. Well that and his mother smiling at him. 

“Rafa?” Olivia had carefully made her way over to them. She’d seen him hit the ice and surely he must be hurt. “You okay?” She helped Noah on his feet so Rafael could get back up.

Yeah he would definitely have bruises tomorrow. “I’ll be fine.” He dusted some ice off his jeans and coat. 

“Sure?” She held his eyes for a moment, making sure he wasn’t putting on a brave face for her son.

He nodded reassuring her he would be fine. “I will need a warm bath tonight.”

She stepped into him leaning slightly against his side. “I like the idea of that.” She whispered and kissed his jaw. “Let’s get you off the ice.” She turned towards her son who had his arms wrapped around Rafael’s waist.

“Did you see it momma? Did you see how uncle Rafa scored and we won? And he got hit but he still scored!” Noah was in awe. 

“I did, sweetheart.” She felt Rafael shiver. “Now how about we get off the ice, get some hot chocolate and then go home?”

Noah nodded his agreement and tried to pull his uncle Rafa behind him to get off the ice rink. He managed to do so with a little bit of help from his uncle Rafa. After trading their ice skates back in for their shoes they joined the others in the big tent. There Noah introduced his uncle Rafa proudly to his friends. Olivia waited patiently for them at one of the picnic benches. She loved seeing Rafael and Noah together. Her son had mostly watched Rafael during the game. She’d seen Rafael had gotten more competitive the longer the game went on and especially when the kids had left the adults to it. She knew Rafael felt the need to prove something, whether it was to himself, to Noah or to her, she wasn’t quite sure but she guessed it was all three. She knew how important it was for him to be worthy of Noah, to be able to make Noah proud. Still her remark about the dads being impressive had gotten to him too. She also knew Rafael often felt the need to prove himself to himself. 

After spending quite some time with Noah’s friends and the other parents, Rafael, Olivia and Noah were one of the few left in the big tent. Noah was leaning against Rafael’s side and in his hand a small trophy which every member of the winning team had gotten. Olivia was leaning against Rafael’s other side. This moment, this day, the three of them like this, this was happiness. 

“Good day?” Rafael whispered against Olivia’s hair. 

“The best.” She said just as softly. She snuggled a little closer against his side. “Ready to go home?”

Rafael glanced at Noah who was still holding the trophy proudly in his hand. “What do you think mijo, ready to go home?” He felt Noah’s nod. “You tired?” Again he got a nod. “Come on.” He helped both Benson’s up on their feet. He pulled Olivia closer and kissed her softly. “Thank you.” He knew he didn’t have to tell her all he was thanking her for. She knew and that was exactly why she had his heart. 

She held his eyes and smiled. “Thank you.” Just like him she didn’t have to tell him what she was grateful for. He had her heart and nothing made her happier.


End file.
